Monday, October 11, 2004

Faculty-Librarian Partnerships to Teach Information Skills for the 21st Century. Here is another excellent essay by Hannelore B. Rader. I think that Ms. Rader probably has done more for library instruction and information literacy than anyone else in the last 25 years. This paper was originally published in the Proceedings of the 7th International Conference of European University Information Systems, Berlin Humboldt-University, 2001, March 28-30.

From the site:

It is most important that students in higher education receive adequate education for productive work and scholarship in the technological information environment of the 21st century. Changes in the workforce, a knowledge-based economy, virtual environments, life-long learning and related factors are changing the climate within higher education around the world. Students must be prepared throughout their tenure in higher education to become productive employees and life long learners. One very important aspect of students' educational preparation deals with teaching them appropriate skills to handle information effectively and productively. Based on national criteria related to standards and outcome measurements, developed by the Association of College and Research Libraries in the United State, students should graduate from universities understanding how to use, apply and evaluate information effectively.

This paper provides details about the five national information literacy standards and demonstrates a variety of methods in which faculty-librarian partnerships can successfully teach information skills.